Matt Richtel

A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system–the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind book, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist.A terminal cancer patient rises from the grave. A medical marvel defies HIV. Two women with autoimmunity discover their own bodies have turned against them. Matt Richtel's An Elegant Defense uniquely entwines these intimate stories with science’s centuries-long quest to unlock the mysteries of sickness and health, and illuminates the immune system as never before.The immune system is our body’s essential defense network, a guardian vigilantly fighting illness, healing wounds, maintaining order and balance, and keeping us alive. Its legion of microscopic foot soldiers—from T cells to “natural killers”—patrols our body, linked by a nearly instantaneous communications grid. It has been honed by evolution over millennia to face an almost infinite array of threats.For all its astonishing complexity, however, the immune system can be easily compromised by fatigue, stress, toxins, advanced age, and poor nutrition—hallmarks of modern life—and even by excessive hygiene. Paradoxically, it is a fragile wonder weapon that can turn on our own bodies with startling results, leading today to epidemic levels of autoimmune disorders.Richtel effortlessly guides readers on a scientific detective tale winding from the Black Plague to twentieth-century breakthroughs in vaccination and antibiotics, to the cutting-edge laboratories that are revolutionizing immunology—perhaps the most extraordinary and consequential medical story of our time. The foundation that Richtel builds makes accessible revelations about cancer immunotherapy, the microbiome, and autoimmune treatments that are changing millions of lives. An Elegant Defense also captures in vivid detail how these powerful therapies, along with our behavior and environment, interact with the immune system, often for the good but always on a razor’s edge that can throw this remarkable system out of balance.Drawing on his groundbreaking reporting for the New York Times and based on extensive new interviews with dozens of world-renowned scientists, Matt Richtel has produced a landmark book, equally an investigation into the deepest riddles of survival and a profoundly human tale that is movingly brought to life through the eyes of his four main characters, each of whom illuminates an essential facet of our “elegant defense.”

One of 2014's most original and masterfully reported books, A Deadly Wandering by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Matt Richtel interweaves the cutting-edge science of attention with the tensely plotted story of a mysterious car accident and its aftermath to answer some of the defining questions of our time: What is technology doing to us? Can our minds keep up with the pace of change? How can we find balance? Through Richtel's beautifully constructed narrative, a complex and far-reaching topic becomes intimate and urgent--an important call to reexamine our own lives. On the last day of summer, an ordinary Utah college student named Reggie Shaw fatally struck two rocket scientists while texting and driving along a majestic stretch of highway bordering the Rocky Mountains. Richtel follows Reggie from the moment of the tragedy, through the police investigation, the state's groundbreaking prosecution (at the time there was little precedent to guide the court), and ultimately, Reggie's wrenching admission of responsibility. Richtel parallels Reggie's journey with leading-edge scientific findings regarding human attention and the impact of technology on our brains--showing how these devices, now thoroughly embedded in all aspects of our lives, play to our deepest social instincts and prey on parts of the brain that crave stimulation, creating loops of compulsion, even addiction. A propulsive read filled with fascinating scientific detail, riveting narrative tension, and rare emotional depth, A Deadly Wandering is a book that can change--and save--lives.

A mysterious disorder threatens to destroy the world in this high-concept thriller from Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times reporter Matt Richtel, which combines medical science, cutting-edge technology, and breathtaking suspense in the vein of Michael Crichton.An airplane lands at a desolate airport in a remote Colorado ski town. On board, Dr. Lyle Martin, a world-class infectious disease specialist, is brusquely awakened to shocking news: everyone not on the plane appears to be dead. A lethal new kind of virus may have surfaced, threatening our survival, and now Martin—one of the most sought after virologists on the planet until his career took a precipitous slide—is at the center of the investigation.The symptoms are the most confounding the experienced doctor has ever seen. Is it the work of terrorists? A biological attack? A natural occurrence? As word of the deadly sickness spreads, panic leads to violence and chaos. Armed and terrified partisans and patriots, stoked by technology and social media, have dug in, unknowingly creating fertile ground for the deadly syndrome Dr. Martin has begun to identify.As the globe begins to unravel and paranoia and hatred take hold, Martin is forced to face a question as terrifying as this syndrome itself: is the world better left unsaved?Moving at a breakneck pace from the labs of the Centers for Disease Control to the secret campus of Google X to the marble halls of the Capitol, Dead on Arrival is a brilliantly imaginative, high-concept thriller that draws on Matt Richtel's years of science and technology reporting for the New York Times, and establishes him as one of the premier technological thriller writers working today.

WHO: Medical writer Nat Idle.WHAT: An explosion that almost kills him.WHERE: San Francisco. An Internet café.WHEN: Now.WHY: No one knows.HOW: A bomb.When medical journalist Nat Idle narrowly survives an explosion in an Internet café after receiving a mysterious note warning him to leave immediately, he becomes enmeshed in the most dangerous assignment of his life. Nat believes that the handwriting on the lifesaving note belongs to his deceased girlfriend, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist he has been obsessively mourning, and so begins a fevered quest to solve the mystery of his lost love. The journey forces him to confront the underbelly of the digital revolution and question his own sanity.Matt Richtel's first novel will leave you hooked at the end of every chapter. His thriller about love and other addictions is itself a compulsive reading experience, fueled by adrenaline and suspense and influenced by the pace and attitude of the Internet. It is a tour de force of romance and deception, and a haunting commentary on the impact new addictions are having on our lives.

Medical journalist Nate Idle has stumbled onto an extraordinary conspiracy and the ultimate mind game. Suddenly, in pursuit of the truth, he's running for his life through the shadows of Silicon Valley, a human lab animal caught in a deadly maze of neurotechnology and institutional paranoia. And his survival rests entirely in the hands of his eighty-five-year old grandmother, Lane, who’s suffering from dementia, and can't remember the secret at the heart of the world-changing conspiracy.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and author of A Deadly Wandering comes a pulse-pounding technological thriller—as ingenious as the works of Michael Crichton and as urgent and irresistible as an episode of 24—in which one man has three days to prevent annihilation: the outbreak of World War III. Computer genius Jeremy Stillwater has designed a machine that can predict global conflicts and ultimately head them off. But he’s a stubborn guy, very sure of his own genius, and has wound up making enemies, and even seen his brilliant invention discredited.There’s nowhere for him to turn when the most remarkable thing happens: his computer beeps with warning that the outbreak of World War III is imminent, three days and counting.Alone, armed with nothing but his own ingenuity, he embarks on quest to find the mysterious and powerful nemesis determined to destroy mankind. But enemies lurk in the shadows waiting to strike. Could they have figured out how to use Jeremy, and his invention, for their own evil ends?Before he can save billions of lives, Jeremy has to figure out how to save his own. . . .

The Cloud is an exhilarating, cutting-edge thriller from Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times technology and science reporter Matt Richtel.A late-night accident on a San Francisco subway platform has altered Nat Idle's reality. But then, there are no accidents. Disoriented and bloodied after a near-deadly fall onto the subway tracks, freelance journalist Nat Idle discovers that a beautiful stranger has come to his aid . . . and that the burly man who barreled into him had intended to do Nat harm. What he doesn't know is why--and his quest for answers leads him to uncover a handful of mysterious deaths, and a bizarre neurological disorder plaguing Bay Area children . . . as he ventures ultimately into the Cloud. In a brave new world, the Cloud is where we store data, secrets, dreams. But it is something more--something insidious with the power to change not just how we interact with the world, but our behavior, and brains? Nat, in search of the truth, finds himself lost in a psychedelic maze, discovering things that cannot possibly be, realizing there is no one and nothing he can trust . . . not even his own mind.In the tradition of Lisa Gardner, Steve Berry, and Joseph Finder, Richtel has delivered a whip-smart page-turner that melds cutting-edge science with a technological mystery and a shocking finale. A deftly told tale, the scariest part of The Cloud is how close to reality it could be.

A groundbreaking new investigation into the mysteries of creativity and how to maximize your creative potential, from Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times reporter and bestselling author of An Elegant Defense Matt Richtel. In his viral New York Times piece “How to Be Creative,” journalist and bestselling author Matt Richtel presented readers with a list of prescriptive advice on how to unleash your inner creativity through steps like paying attention to your imagination, embracing imperfection, and giving your brain some much-needed rest. Now he expands these concepts into a full-length book aiming to uncover the secrets of being more creative, and arguing for the power of creativity in all walks of life.In Inspired, Richtel investigates the nature of creativity through interviews with prominent creatives on their craft, as well as scientists who have been working to unlock the secrets of the creative brain. Blending science and personal development, Richtel not only walks readers through how to maximize their creative potential, but also provides scientific and anecdotal evidence on how accessing creativity serves as a key to success in any field and a source of deep personal fulfillment and meaning.

Building off his award-winning New York Times series on the contemporary teen mental-health crisis, the Pulitzer Prize–winning science reporter delivers a groundbreaking investigation into adolescence, the pivotal life stage undergoing profound—and often confounding—transformation.The transition from childhood to adulthood is a natural, evolution-honed cycle that now faces radical change and challenge. The adolescent brain, sculpted for this transition over eons of evolution, confronts a modern world that creates so much social pressure as to regularly exceed the capacities of the evolving mind. The problem comes as a bombardment of screen-based information pelts the brain just as adolescence is undergoing a second key puberty is hitting earlier. The result is a neurological mismatch between an ultra-potent environment and a still-maturing brain that can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It is a crisis that is part of modern life but can only be truly grasped through a broad, grounded lens of the biology of adolescence itself. Through this lens, Richtel shows us how adolescents can understand themselves, and parents and educators can better help.For decades, this transition to adulthood has been defined by hormonal shifts that trigger the onset of puberty. But Richtel takes us where science now understands so much of the action the brain. A growing body of research that looks for the first time into budding adult neurobiology explains with untold clarity the emergence of the “social brain,” a craving for peer connection, and how the behaviors that follow pave the way for economic and social survival. This period necessarily involves testing—as the adolescent brain is programmed from birth to take risks and explore themselves and their environment—so that they may be able to thrive as they leave the insulated care of childhood.Richtel, diving deeply into new research and gripping personal stories, offers accessible, scientifically grounded answers to the most pressing questions about generational change. What explains adolescent behaviors, risk-taking, reward-seeking, and the ongoing mental health crisis? How does adolescence shape the future of the species? What is the nature of adolescence itself?

It's Watergate. On servers.On the eve of the presidential election, a conspiracy threatens to alter the outcome of the vote—and the future of American politics. At the heart of the plot is a powerful computer program, aimed at rooting out hypocrisy among politicians to expose their truths . . . and ours. Left to unravel the conspiracy is a bitter, hotheaded former journalist, but he's just not sure he cares enough to get to the bottom of it.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, wait . . . it’s a runaway booger!From Lee Wildish, acclaimed children’s book illustrator of the New York Times bestselling How to Babysit a Grandpa, How to Babysit a Grandma, and How to Catch Santa, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matt Richtel comes a hilarious new picture book about a topsy-turvy day with an unlikely and disgusting turn of events.Like such silly favorites as Walter the Farting Dog, Runaway Booger will spark giggles and demands to read it again.

Get three exhilarating and cutting-edge thrillers by Matt Richtel in one e-book, Devil's Plaything, Floodgate, and The Cloud.Devil's Plaything—a phenomenal "neuro-tech" thriller about a dark and insidious plot to reengineer the human brain. Devil's Plaything is smart, fast, and terrifyingly plausible—a page-turner of the first order.Floodgate—On the eve of the presidential election, a conspiracy threatens to alter the outcome of the vote—and the future of American politics. At the heart of the plot is a powerful computer program, aimed at rooting out hypocrisy among politicians to expose their truths . . . and ours.The Cloud—When the next generation of technology seeps into the brains of the next generation of people, former medical student turned journalist Nat Idle must investigate and stop the invasion. A deftly told tale, the scariest part of The Cloud is how close to reality it could be.

Over the course of one frantic night, an 18-year-old addict runs from authorities as he desperately seeks to unearth a conspiracy at the heart of his generation's angst. But what ultimately drives him is a craving to finally connect with his true love, a fellow traveler among the underbelly of yearning, and hopeful new adults coming of age in an era of chaos. His discoveries startle him as his journey provides a powerful portrait of contemporary life, part John Green, part 1970's Go Ask Alice, a confessional, thriller, and voice of a generation.